Abstract
The European Commission pursues a strategic action plan using the “Safe System” approach. The function, layout and design of roads shall be coordinated in such a way that human error is compensated, and possible accidents no longer cause fatalities or serious injuries. Four fields of action are defined: people, vehicles, roads and laws. This study aims to model the process involved in road safety management in Austria based on the System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) and to identify areas of improvement that also meet these goals. This is intended to create the basis for a method that can also be applied in practice to meet the “Safe System” approach. The traffic authorities or road owners are responsible for monitoring and enforcing road safety in Austria. Their main instrument is the Road Safety Inspection (RSI) that focuses primarily on road traffic planning aspects. This study proposes a method for including human-road-vehicle interactions in RSI. The STPA-based analysis showed how the road safety management and RSI can be improved to provide more comprehensive, accurate and relevant information about hazards at various levels of the safety management structure. The results can be used for improving the safety of all road users.
Highlights
IntroductionA system-based approach to the safety management of road infrastructure is promoted by the European Parliament and the Council in its Directive 2008/96/EC of 19 November
Findings of the System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) analysis are structured in four steps that were described in the method
For the gaps identified as a result of STPA, new target-oriented tools could be proposed such as a database and a new control instance that can be used directly in the implementation of road safety management and Road Safety Inspection (RSI)
Summary
A system-based approach to the safety management of road infrastructure is promoted by the European Parliament and the Council in its Directive 2008/96/EC of 19 November. The Directive applies to roads of the entire Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and includes the following technical tools: Road Safety Impact Assessment (RIA), Road Safety Inspection (RSI), Road Safety Analysis and Black Spot Management. A systemic approach as proposed in this study is expected to enlarge the focus of road safety management. Human error should be compensated by applying the “Safe System” approach to road engineering in terms of function, design and layout of roads. This shall be applied to all primary roads through revision of the Road Infrastructure Safety Management
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